A clothes iron is a small appliance that, when heated, is used to press clothes to remove wrinkles and unwanted creases, going by several other names including flatiron, smoothing iron, dry iron and steam iron. A domestic iron typically runs between about 121 and 182 degrees Celsius, and the appliance takes its name from the metal historically used to make it. Ironing, the process of using the iron, is the final stage of laundering a garment: heat loosens the bonds between the polymer molecules in a fabric's fibers, and the weight of the hot iron then straightens those fibers, which hold their new, smoother shape as they cool.
Facts
Introduced When (Circa) OriginThe earliest irons were containers filled with a burning substance or solid lumps of metal heated directly, long before the electric version; the resistively heated electric iron is credited to Henry W. Seely of New York, patented on June 6, 1882, weighing almost 15 pounds and taking a long time to heat. 1 Introduced era (class) In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Clothes Iron (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHistory and development section, paragraph 2
Metal pans filled with hot coals were used for smoothing fabrics in China in the 1st century BC.
History and development section, paragraph 3
An "electric flatiron" was invented by American Henry W. Seely and patented on June 6, 1882.
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